A Saudi man talks in his phone wears a mask outside King Fahd hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, May 9, 2014.

Seven senior officials of the Saudi Health Ministry are expected to be sacked prior to investigations on corruption charges, Al-Watan Arabic daily reported on Tuesday quoting ministry’s sources.

They said the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution (BIP) has made some observations and remarks on the performance of the seven high-ranking officials related to corruption and the waste of public funds.

The sources said the accused violated the regulations of appointment in some programs and spent large sums of money on irrelevant conferences and seminars.

The officials were also accused of giving some employees allowances that they were not entitled to while depriving deserving staff of a pay raise.

According to statistics, Saudi Arabia will be the fastest growing healthcare market in the GCC in the next six years and the overall growth rate for the whole region will hit 12 percent by 2018.

The research, which was issued by Alpen Capital Group, also says that healthcare demand in the GCC countries and especially the Kingdom is rising due to shifting demographics, higher income, steady population growth and lifestyle changes that in turn have led to a corresponding increase in conditions like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Both the public and private health sectors are meeting the challenge by increasing healthcare spending.

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